


I Was Sparing You

by Iyearnforaplotadvancement



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, F/M, Gen, I Am Groot, Infinity Wars, People are going to die, Sex, reference to suicide, relax there's no beastiality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2018-11-03 11:33:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10966371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iyearnforaplotadvancement/pseuds/Iyearnforaplotadvancement
Summary: "...But I can see now that I was really sparing myself, and I'm sorry."Hopefully one day you can understand.Nebula's quest to become a real girl isn't as easy as she thought it would be.But she should've known nothing she did was easy.





	1. Out of the Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Here I go again throwing my faith into a couple who don't hold water.
> 
> But hey, that's what fanfiction is for. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this. This is going to be parts. This first section is like an intro. Following are gonna be 3 LONG PARTS. Also it's probably gonna be a 'Telltale Games' release special. As in, you'll probably be waiting a month in between chapters. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and leave me feedback. 
> 
> I may also post a playlist along with each chapter in theme of the movies.

It's a month later when Nebula returns.

It's on a small outpost planet Knave where Peter sees her. He gets Gamorrah.

Gamora is expecting a knife fight, a screaming match, a some violent affair or other. But the only thing Nebula gives her is…

"You look...well." Nebula stared at her sister, trying to gauge The Green One's reaction.

Gamorrah, lost for words, nods. Nebula's amiability is enough to distract Gamora from her sister's broken arm, momentarily.

A minute after, Nebula screams, crumpling in on herself as her body seizes and contorts. Gamora feels sick as she kneels to her sister's side, trying to ignore the burning smell. She calls for Peter as she tries to ease her sister's pain. Even after years of hardship and trife, she still doesn't like to see Nebula hurting.

A succession of smaller electrical outages blow up all over Nebula's body. Gamora was sure that her sister was dying and thinks that maybe this is why she returned.

But Ol' Blue isn't that lucky.

When the worst of it is over, they manage to move her to a room. Peter has Rocket look at her while she's out, under the watchful eye of Gamora.

 

"G?"

"Yes, Rocket?"

"I could work better if your nose wasn't jammed into my ear."

Gamora jerks away and mutters an apology. "I apologize."

 

Rocket brushes it off and continues working on Nebula's arm. He sees that it's not the same as the one she had a month ago. It's an older model and a hand-me-down at that. He thinks she probably broke her's or hocked it for quick cash. Whatever the case, the old piece of junk short circuited her whole system. Rocket forgets that she's almost completely robot. He wonders how much of her is still organic as he removes her defunct hand and rewires things here and there.

 

Gamora makes very quiet sounds of concern as Rocket rips and yanks some things that don't need to be there. He can feel her wanting to say something but not saying it. It's very un-Gamora like.

 

He lets her know so.

"I'm worried about her..." She mumbles.

"You shouldn't be. She may not be better than you, but she's still Thanos's daughter. And that's better than all of us. Most of us."

"You should have seen her, she was being friendly."

Rocket raises an eyebrow.

"As friendly as she can be anyway." Gamora corrects.

 

Rocket finishes his last repairs. He cleans up quickly as Gamorra takes over and covers her with a blanket.

"I dunno when she'll be awake, but she has to be when I do the last repairs in her head. She'll probably be blind in her cybernetic eye when she wakes up. So tell her not to freak out." He says, stepping out of the room.

"Thank you, Rocket." Gamora says with a sad smile.

"Of course, G. Anytime." Rocket goes to the common area of the ship, leaving the sisters alone. He sees Peter and Drax and Mantis at the table. Drax is describing something to Mantis and Peter as they look on in confusion. Rocket snickers to himself as he stores his tool box into it's proper place.

He takes his seat at his table, next to Mantis. She smiles wide at him as he sits down.

She hovers her hand over his head, a question; 'Can I pet you’?

He raises his head to meet her hand, 'Yes you may.' She smiles contently for a moment, "Thank you Crabby Puppy."

She feels what he's feeling and her smile disappears. Rocket is a mish-mash of worry and stress and anxiety and general confusion. He's not bothered by Nebula's presence. He's worried that she may not make it. He's worried how Gamora may act.

"You feel worried that Gamora's sister will not live." Mantis says, "You are worried you will fail her. Rocket stiffens and moves away from Mantis's hand. Peter shoots him a sympathetic look, Drax remained stoic.

"You must not have fear she will not make it. Nebula is a strong individual. Physically. She will live." Mantis assures.Rocket certainly hopes so.

 

 

Nebula wakes up in a daze. She remembers coming aboard The Milano in hopes of getting a new hand. That man- Kraklin, Kragle?- had a whole box of them and last she remembered he was with the Guardians now. But then something went wrong, it had to have been the faulty hand. Nebula doesn't groan. She growls.

"Nebula? Are you alright?" Gamora's voice is recognizable, but it sounds odds. Her audio receptors must be broken.

“Everything sounds funny. And my eye..." She realizes that her sight is gone.

"Rocket needs to do some last repairs. He said you'd have to be awake for them." Gamora says.

"Figures. Where is the fox?"

"He's in his room. But, why don't you rest up first. We can get you some new clothes. Something to eat?" Gamora suggests. Nebula looks weary but she knows she's too tired to object.

So she nods, food first then clothes she says. Nebula is fed yar root -ripe, finally- and some instant kelfir. Nebula eats slowly, trying to ignore the dull throbbing pain in...well everywhere really.

Peter walks in as she bites into her yar-root. He nods her a hello and then kisses Gamora on the forehead. Nebula looks the other way. She waits until they disappear down the hall to continue eating.

Suddenly she feels something tugging at her leg. She looks down and sees the tiny thing, Groot. He's bigger than when she saw him last, a little bigger, a little thicker around the middle. His huge eyes are fixated on the material of her pants. She reaches down and plucks him off the floor. She tosses him onto the table. He gets up bewildered.

"Stop that." She says.

"I am Groot." He argues back.

Nebula looks the little tree up and down. "You're very odd." Without another word, she goes back to her food.

But Groot remains, sitting down in front of her.

"I am Groot?"

"I have no idea what you're saying."

"I am Groot."

"He wants to know what you're eating. He knows what it is, by the way, he just wants to hear you say it." says Rocket from behind. "Morning."

Nebula grunts a 'hello' to him. "You can fix my head." Nebula says, a statement more than a question.

"I can, but I'll wait until you're done." Rocket says sitting down next to her. Groot gets up and climbs onto Rocket's shoulder.

"Where is Krayken? He can get me a new hand."

"Who?" "The small man, Yondu's first mate." Nebula says.

"Kraglin. He took off a few weeks ago. Ravager business. We can give him a call. But why would he have a hand?"

"He had a whole box of them." Nebula says holding up the stump where her arm used to be, "and I'm in need of one."

Rocket nodded, patting Groot on the back. "I understand. Maybe when we finish you repairs, I can ring him." Rocket says.

Nebula grunted again, a sound which Rocket hoped meant she was in agreement. Finally Nebula went back to her food, committing wholly to it. Rocket uttered an awkward good bye and shuffled away from the table.

"I am Groot."

"You're telling me, Bud."

 

 

"How's that feel?" Nebula blinks rapidly as her sight returns to her eye. She snaps her eyes shut, the lights on the ship are very bright. "I can see." That's all she needs, really. She leans back in her chair as Rocket paces on the table in the common area.

"I'm gonna start on your ears next, which one has the audio receptor?" Nebula points to the ear and waits for Rocket to switch sides. He hums as he works, his hands are gentle and precise. She figures its more due to the fact that he's working with intricate machinery rather than a person. She wants to tell him that the skin on the side of her head is real and in fact, very tender. But she knows it wouldn't matter, it would only make his job harder if has to worry about whether or not she's in pain. Plus, she's no stranger to pain. There's a small popping sound and then a whir that's almost a little too loud for her. Rocket puts down his tool and hops off the table.

"Hows that?" Nebula waits a moment, she turns her ear towards one side of the room and can hear Mantis reading aloud to Groot all the way from her own quarters. She angles it towards the cockpit and can hear Drax and Peter talking.

"It's working fine." She says and then after a beat, "Thank you."

Rocket looks surprised, "Uh, you're welcome?"

Nebula stands up, "Since I'm capable of being on my own again, I won't bother you to contact Kraglin. Give me his coordinates, I'll find him myself." They're still on Knave, resupplying, refueling. Rocket nods hid head, "Sure. But just FYI, you're ship's left thruster is out." Nebula shrugs, looking at the space where her hand would've been. "I'll make due. I can find someone in town to fix it." Rocket nods his head in agreement.

He kicks at a piece of trash on the ground, "You could...Or I could do it." She looks at him, "And why would you do that?" "We're The Guardians of the Galaxy. We help people."

Nebula has never been one for help, but she's stubborn, not stupid. And if the fox is offering to fix he ship for free, she'd be a fool not to accept his offer.

 

The repairs end up taking a few days. Gamora takes the opportunity to catch up with her sister.

"So, how have you been?" Gamora asks.

"Crippled."

"Have you seen any new places?"

"The inside of a Laxthorian prison."

"And...how was that?"

"Awful. Do you know where Kraglin is?"

"Contraxia most likely," Nebula grimaces.

"You need him? We can contact him." Gamora offers.

"I'd rather this be something I do on my own." Nebula explains, right after, Rocket radios them. "Ship's fixed. Send her down when she's ready. Rocket out." Nebula rises, exiting the ship. "Nebula. I-." Gamora reaches for words but can find nothing. "I just hope you don't do everything on your own. Please take care of yourself." Gamora watches her sister's back, hoping she'll turn around and agree to, even if she didn't mean it. But Nebula continues to towards the exit. Her goodbyes to everyone are short and curt. It's only Peter who manages anything close to warm partings.

He gathers her into a hug, "Don't forget to call more, Gamora worries." Nebula knows he's joking. But the idea of it is enough to make Nebula sentimental. She pushes away from him and is grateful Peter doesn't take it seriously. Mantis is next to approach her, with Groot on her shoulders. "We made you a present." Groot hands her something wrapped in little branches, it reminds her of the wicker toys and baskets she used to make as a child.

"Groot wants you to wait to open it." Mantis says.

Groot waves at her, "I am Groot." Nebula doesn't smile, but a little corner of her mouth pitches up. She puts the wicker ball into her pocket and heads toward her ship. Rocket waits for her by her ship.

"I had to change a few things with the ship's control. Get in I'll show you." Nebula slides into the pilot seat and starts up the ship. Rocket points to a lever that wasn't there before and a metal box with a purple button on it. "That lever controls the amount of thrust. Pull it towards you if you wanna take off, away from you to dial it back." Nebula stores the information, "This button is a last resort. You find yourself in trouble, just push it."

She looks at him and then back at the button, "It's a weapon? Or a teleporter?"

"Yeah, it's like both of those." Rocket says. She takes his explanation with a grain of salt.

"Thank you again, I hope this is the last time we see each other for a while." She closes her door before he can say anything else and blasts off.

 

 

On Contraxia a man tries to proposition her for sex. He wears a Ravager uniform, but not the one Kraglin wore. It must be another of those fractions, she assumes.

 "Now I ain't never seen a more beautiful 'Bot around here before. You that new model everyone's been taking about?" Nebula forgets just how much of a machine she looks like sometimes. She ignores the man and continues on.

"Ah, now wait a minute, baby." Nebula's good arm is held firmly by the man as he drags her back and invades her space. She rolls her lips in. "This ain't how it works." His other hand traces down her back and cups one of her ass cheeks. She looks down and then back up at his smirking face.

"On any other day, I'd kill you. But I'll settle for this." The man raises an eyebrow just as Nebula cold cocks him with her good arm. He falls to the floor, a few patrons of the planet gasp and mumble, but it dies down a few seconds later. Nebula pinches the man's wallet and finds 1500 credits. She takes only the money and leaves. She looks around for the burgundy jackets of Kraglin's group but doesn't. She wanders around like some kind of moron for a few hours and grows increasingly irritated. Maybe she should have let the Guardians call him after all. But then she hears him, talking to a crew mate. Her implants can hear far but they can only do so much. She scans the crowd for him and finds nothing. But his voice becomes louder and clearer as she walks around in the crowd. She follows the sound of his voice until she is led to a table where he's standing. He looks different from when they last met.

"Kraglin," Nebula says.

He looks at her and his eyes go wide, "Oh it's you again,"

She steps forward, "What brings you here?" he asks. She holds up her stump arm, "I need a hand. No pun intended." she says with a straight face.

Kraglin nods rapidly, "Oh yeah, I can find you one. I'm in the middle of just- ah- a discussion with some important people... Can I buy you a drink? And then afterwards we can see what we can do about our missing appendage."

"I can't drink but I'll wait in my ship until you're ready. I'm parked on the east side of the planet, next to the Rutmal Red." He finds her a few hours later. Nebula is sitting outside, working on something on her thigh. He clears his throat, not sure how to properly interrupt her. He notices she's wearing shorts and he realizes that it never occurred to him that her clothes weren't apart of her body. She looks up at him and rises, she closes the panel on her thigh and steps down to meet him.

"You look different." "Oh the fin," he says pointing to the fixture on his head, "Like Yondu had." She looks at it, nodding, "I remember." she sees he has the arrow in his holster as well. She doesn't ask about it, only interested in getting what she needs. "Could I have a look at your arm, first?" She shows him.

He takes it in his hands and turns it over inspecting it. "I know a place where you can get a good one for cheap. It's not far from here, about a ten minute walk." She nods, retreating back into her ship.

"Let me put my pants on."

They make their way to the shop when Kraglin asks, "What happened to your other hand, if you don't mind me asking." "I sold it for medical attention." She points to her side where a neat line runs down her side, cauterized. He can see it through the holes in her shirt. Kraglin nods, knowing that's all he needs to know.

They reach the shop not long after and Nebula is greeted with a plethora of choices. She gravitates to a dark blue han. With some minor inspection, she's pleased to find it's also equipped with a laser cannon.

"That's gonna cost ya," says the vendor.

"How much?" Nebula asks.

"1200 credits." Without batting an eye, Nebula slaps down the money and takes her hand.

Kraglin trails behind. "W-where are we going?"

"Back to my ship so I can attach my hand" She answers. Nebula seems surprised that he's still there.

"What?"

"Ah-I-I'm sorry, I thought you wanted me to-."

"You got me a hand, I no longer require your help. Thank you." Nebula disappears into her ship, leaving Kraglin outside. The next morning Kraglin returned to where she was parked and found she was gone.


	2. Alone in the Universe- Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAAAAA GUESS WHO UPDATED. GUESS WHO'S FIC GOT GANKED BY INFINITY WAR??
> 
> Yeah buddies, you're gonna have to excuse this canon divergence. I for some reason thought that 2018 from 2017 was like 15,000 years away. Who knew a year was 12 months, crazy...
> 
> Anyways, as always, leave me comments, they keep me going. I literally don't have the heart to post sometimes without them.

"Right and left boosters out. Rapid depressurization of cabin."

The automated voice was pleasant, the situation was not.

"Thank you, I've heard that a billion times.”

As always, Nebula couldn't stay out of trouble. She was rapidly running out of time and options. Her eyes locked onto the purple button. She sighed and slammed her fist down onto the button.   
  
  


"Rocket, what's this blinking light?" asked Peter. 

Rocket hurried to the deck and looked at the holographic dashboard, "Oh," he said, "That's Nebula." 

  
  
  


Dying wasn't so bad. 

Nebula thought about her own death often enough and now faced with it, she thought it wasn't too bad. She preferred to die in a blaze of gunfire, maybe an explosion. But she could learn to appreciate the cold, black void of space. she'd have to learn how to. For once she wasn't grateful for the robotic upgrades, it was only going to make the dying slow.

Her ship was blown to bits and she was floating along, hopeless. This was the end.

At least it sure looked that way.

The lights of a ship blinded her and Nebula thought she was meeting the asshole who made her. She was ready to beat his sorry ass and ask him why he ever bothered to make her if all he wanted for her was suffering. 

But it was worse. 

The lights were not Divine Intervention. It was The Guardians of the Galaxy. 

Some being floated out from the mass of light and wrapped it's appendage around her, pulling her towards the ship. 

Nebula really needed to find a new galaxy. 

The frost on her body was already beginning to crack as she entered the ship's artificial environment. The voices around her were a muddled cacophony of sounds and franticness and suddenly Nebula wanted to be dead so bad. 

Before she could beg for death, something big and rough was moving her somewhere. Her eyes were closed and most of her skin sensors had shut down to conserve power to only the most vital of her systems. She could not hear, see, or feel anything that was happening apart from generalities. 

Nebula was too tired to fight any of it, and once her body was set down, she let go.   
  


 

"Well good mornin' ya big blue ball of anger and malice. Nice to see you again after a whole year away." 

That was Peter, she was sure. His voice and manner of speaking was too loud, too large to forget. But by a Terran god, she wished she could've.

"How ya feeling kid?"

"Like my ship was blown up by Hebrons and that I was suffocating out in the depths of space." she mumbled, her voice feeling hoarse. 

"Sounds about right. Least we know you don't have brain damage." Peter said, reaching over her. She felt his body, her eyes still closed.

"What are you doing?"

"Shootin' a text to Gamora over the ship's com- It's behind you-. She was worried about you by the way."

"How sweet." Nebula grunted, turning over on whatever surface she was laying on. "Peter, I'm going to pass out again. Please leave."

"Totally will Angry Lady. Just let me check your vitals and I'll be out of your nonexistent hair." 

Maybe it was the delirium from floating out in space, or just the exhaustion from everything else, but Nebula mumbled, "I used to have hair. Real hair. It was red and long." 

Peter was quiet and then softly patted her arm, "Get some rest. You had a long day."

She snorted, rolling her eyes behind her lids. She heard Peter closing the door behind her and then everything went black.

 

 

For the next three days Nebula slipped in and out of consciousness, being awake long enough only to take a sip of water or complain before slipping back into a state of unresponsiveness.

Gamora spoke to her every now and again. The bulk of it was nothing but ramblings, but some were memories, the good ones Gamora could salvage anyways. Sometimes she asked questions about where Nebula had been the past year or how she was doing. Nebula for the first time found herself wanting to tell her sister that she was okay and that she was eating enough and all that. But mostly she just wanted her sister to stop talking. At least that's what she told herself. 

On the fourth day, she felt well enough to open her eyes and sit up in bed. Her head felt like a rock and her throat was incredibly dry, but she was alive. She groaned out loud and looked around her surroundings. She knew this room was a cargo hold, evident by the crates and shipping containers.  

Slowly she swung her legs over the edge of the cot. 

A wave of pain shot up her legs, almost causing her to topple over. She grit her teeth and forced herself to stand. She gripped a nearby stack of crates and held on, waiting for the pain to pass. When it had, Nebula moved to the cargo hold door. 

It was unlocked, good, now she wouldn’t have to kick it down.

Her first thought was to take a ship and get as far from everyone as she could. She’d spent enough time lying down, now she needed to move. Before the Hebrons had blown her ship apart, she was on Thanos’s trail. As far as she knew, he had some business on Lorenia-3. 

But who knew how far they were from there now. So if Nebula wanted to catch him before he left, she’d need to leave now.

She hobbled out into the hall, only to be stopped by Peter, carrying a tray of glasses of water. 

“Nebula, you’re awake,” he said surprised.

“Yes. Quill. I need a ship. If you can-,”

“Whoa, whoa there Smurfette. I think you need to sit down and-.”

“I don't need to sit down,” Nebula said lowly, “I need to go...and what is a ‘Smurfette’?”

Peter chuffed, leading her back into the room. He set the tray atop a storage crate and plucked a glass of water off the tray. “Drink this first.”

Nebula took the glass from him and sniffed its contents. 

“It’s water. If we wanted to kill you, we would’ve.” Peter assured. 

Nebula shrugged, “I’m just checking my nose receptors.”

“You have those?”

“Yes.” Nebula’s voice wavered. 

Peter knew she was full of shit, but decided not to push her. He leaned against the wall and waited for Nebula to down the whole glass before he continued 

“Gamora’s outside.”

“And?”

“She wanted to see you.”

“I don’t exactly have time to visit.”

“Why not?”

“I’m trying to kill my father.” She said, “And I’m already behind a few days. For all I know he’s halfway across the universe.” 

“Then it does sound like you have time for a meet-and-greet.” Peter said, taking her empty glass and putting it back on the tray. He replaced it with another full glass of water and handed it to her. 

Nebula drank its contents without question. She was thirsty and the water was providing temporary relief. She sighed after finishing the glass and handed it to Peter, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Thank you, Quill.” She mumbled.

“Oh my god, did you just show gratitude?” Peter sardonically replied, holding out a third glass of water to her. 

But Nebula was scowling, she moved his hand aside and walked forward, exiting the room. 

Peter set the glass down, running after her. “Whoa, whoa hey, relax. What did I do?” he felt genuinely confused. 

“You insulted me,” came Nebula’s curt reply. 

“I was joking. It was a joke. I didn’t mean to offend you,” Peter said, “Nebula c’mon I wasn’t serious.”

“I am.” she said stopping to turn to him, “Any kind of emotion I to show people besides anger just seems to get thrown back in my face.” she seethed.

She continued on, heading to the lower deck of the ship where she had left from more than a year ago after Yondu’s death. 

“Nebula,” Peter said running after her, “Nebula hold on-.”

“Get me a ship, Quill. This is the last time I ask.” 

Peter stepped in front of her, “Look, I’m sorry. But you’re gonna storm off right now in your condition just because a joke-which wasn’t all that funny I admit- pissed you off?”

“No, I’m leaving because I need to kill Thanos and you’re in. My. Way!” With every pause of her sentence, Nebula’s voice grew louder until it was echoing off the walls. 

Footsteps followed and Rocket and Gamora appeared. 

“Problem?” Rocket asked looking at Nebula and then at Peter

Nebula looked at him and shook her head, “I was just leaving.”

Gamora stepped forward, her eyes full of concern. Nebula hated it. 

“Nebula don’t you want to-.”

“I want to kill Thanos.”

“Okay, but you're gonna have to do it with one arm.” Rocket said, pointing to her missing arm.

Nebula scoffed, “Again?” she looked down at where her arm should’ve been and realized now why she felt so heavy on one side.

Gamora gripped Nebula shoulders. “Nebula, it's not just your arm. It's your legs, your eye, your head. Just let us take you to the nearest planet at least. You can get a ship and and repaired and then you can go wherever.”

Gamora was going to convince her to stay a while, question was, why?

“Gamora, this is urgent. Thanos is-or was-on Lorenia-3. If I can catch him I can end this. He needs to pay for what he did to me. To us.” 

“Nebula I know you want him dead, but what are you going to do? Go in there guns blazing? That never works.”

Nebula shook her head, “I'll find some way to make it work.”

“You don't have to do this alone.” Gamora said, “We can help you.”

“What are you going to do? Get me there halfway and then get side tracked because of some squabble? Are you going to yell at Quill for being a moron? Or maybe this one can steal more batteries?” she said, gesturing to Rocket with her stub arm. He glared in response.

“Killing him is the only thing I have left Gamora.” Nebula started walking to the exit port, taking a space suit and propulsion pack with her.

“Okay fine, you kill him. Then what?”  Gamora asked, following her sister.

Peter and Rocket looked at each other with a shrug and followed.

Nebula engaged the suit and then thought long and hard. Gamora crossed her arms, staring at Nebulas back. 

“And then I'll die.” Nebula answered. “and I can put a real end to this.” 

Gamora roared, “Nebula that is a stupid plan!”

“Goodbye Gamora.” was all she said before propelling herself into space.

It was just her luck that a ship was passing and she caught a ride. If nothing else, Nebula was a master of timing.

 

 

The ship brought her to Morocose, nowhere near where she wanted to be. She supposed that it was just another day. Honestly when had anything ever gone right for her?

She got off with the rest of the ship's crew, thankful no one tried to kill her. 

Morocose was a desert planet sprinkled endlessly with outposts and villages. In the old ruins of an ancient city, Haaretz, their biggest settlement was alive with movement. The midday bazaar was bustling with sights and sounds that Nebula would have appreciated, had the weather been kinder.

It was on this dust ball that she'd gotten her first “upgrade”. It seemed only fitting that she was returning for another.

The crowds and noise would make it easy to steal a new hand. She'd have to be quick though, knowing full well she couldn't fight to full capacity with a glitchy leg and barely functional eye.

She'd have to work through it if she needed to do what had to be done. There were no excuses.

For a little, Nebula limped around, trying to keep her stump arm from garnering any attention. She ducked under a vendor's stall shade to avoid the heat and was reluctant to leave when the vendor told her to go. Back out into the heat and sun, Nebula wandered.

She eventually came across a tavern and figured if nothing else, a cool place to think and sit for a little would be more than wonderful. She entered in on the tail of a larger group. She found a table in the corner, dark and away from everyone else. She slid into the corner booth and heaved a great sigh.

No ride, no plan, no chance in hell, Nebula honestly should've just let herself die. 

“Frelien, miss.” Nebula’s head popped up from her hands. 

A tentacled mass with a watery voice set a tall mug of liquid on her table. A memory of her and Gamora stealing bottles of the drink ran through her head. She shook her head, ridding herself of the thought.

She raised an eyebrow. “I didn't-.”

“-Bartender thought you looked thirsty. Didn't want someone dying in his bar. Bad for business.” 

The tentacled mass dragged itself away from the table. Nebula looked over at the bartender. He looked like a Terran,, but then she saw him rise from the bar and saw his insectoid legs. She knew at once he was a Thorobo, they were known across galaxies for kindness and hospitality.

Before she and Gamora had gotten too big, Thanos would plant them into Thorobo houses. They could never refuse skinny little orphans. Then once the families had gone to sleep, they'd slaughter them in their beds.

A chill ran down Nebula’s spine as she downed the Frelien. She supposed she should be grateful anyone was giving a damn and was too tired to be cautious. An immediate bitter taste stung the back of her tongue. The last thing she saw before her consciousness faded were the hazel eyes of the bartender across the tavern.

  
  
  


She woke up tied to a chair under a bright light. She didn't feel any pain or anything else for that matter. 

She sat in the middle of the tavern. It was empty and the sky of Morocose -the little she could see through the windows- was dark. 

She'd been drugged. 

She looked to her left then her right and saw others tied to chairs. As well. Far as she could tellall were female, young. Nebula was sensing a theme. 

The Thorobo walked in, smoothing down his white dinner jacket as he did. His top half was completely human now that she was having a good look. He looked over the girls tied up to their chairs and smirked. “Evening ladies.”

The ones who were awake had started asking questions and panicking. Nebula tugged her ropes, but nothing was budging. She looked over the man once more and noted that there were not three fringes on his legs, but four. She then realized she wasn't dealing with a Thorobo at all. She was dealing with a Calmian, a race notorious for running illegal trafficking rings, among other things.

Okay so honest mistake.

“You're probably wondering why you're here. Well, I think you know why.” The Calmian looked over his shoulder and called to someone behind a curtain. “Alright boys, come on in.”

A group of men entered the room, some were beings that Nebula had never seen before. 

A furry, green biped came up to her, stroking the skin under her chin. 

“You know the rules. You break it, you buy it. So be gentle.” Said the Calmian.  

Nebula jerked her head away, “If you're smart Calmian, you'll let me go.” 

“What makes you think that?” the insect-legged man asked.

“The Daughter of Thanos will have your head if you don't release me.”

“T-Thanos?” the Calmian approached her, his hands resting on his chest, “Thanos’ daughter? You're Nebula aren't you. The Cybernetic Assassin?” His face was full of fear, but then it broke into a mocking smile. “You don't think I don't know that,  _ princess _ ?” he chortled, “I wouldn't have drugged you if I didn't. I bet someone would pay top dollar to get a piece of that,” he said, taking her chin, “Or they might just wanna kill you. Don't matter much to me. All I care about is the money.” 

Nebula snarled and futilely bit at his hand. The Calmian laughed harder, “She's a biter fellas!” 

She watched him walk away, towards the crowd of men, “Let's start the bidding? We'll work up to the Blue Psychopath. Let's start with the cuties from Cannon 4.”

Nebula sulked in her chair. This whole affair was reminding her of part of her teenage years when Thanos tried to get rid of her. But all it taught her was how to hate people and more importantly, how to hate people who touched her body.

She scanned the crowd, looking for someone with a knife or a blaster. She needed to get loose, she couldn't let herself get aboard someone's ship with the condition she was in now. It was certain death, like throwing chum in the shark water as Peter said once.

Her processors must have been moving slow, because sooner than she'd expected, she was up.

“And now, the hottie with the robotic body, the tall drink of water, your personal Luphomoid nymphoid, Nebula the Cybernetic Assassin. She's missing an arm, has a slight limp. We'll start the bidding at five hundred credit.”

 

“Five-fifty!” Said a another Calmian in the crowd.

“Six-fifty!” shot back an Android.

“Seven-seventy-five!”

“Eight!”

“Fifteen-hundred units!” 

 

Nebula recognized that voice. She looked around for the source of it and saw a familiar colored jacket peak out from the crowd. 

Kraglin emerged, a few other Ravagers in tow. The ones following him couldn't be much older than teenage. His face was all business, “She killed my captain,” his voice was low, serious, “I want her head.”

“Well she’ll give ya some head, assure,” the Calmian laughed crudely, “I got Fifteen-hundred from the Ravager captain. Anyone got a better offer?”

“Sixteen- hundred!” Yelled the furry, green biped. 

“Ah-ah, seventeen!” Kraglin said with slight waiver in his voice.

“Eighteen.” The biped said with a steely resolve, “Face it, Ravager, she's mine. But tell you what I'll let you have when I'm done with her.”

The boys behind Kraglin mumbled something, only to be silenced by their captain. “Twenty.”

There was a low rumble from the crowd, one of disbelief and slight astonishment. Nebula sincerely doubted Kraglin had that much on him. 

“Forty.” 

The hazel eyed Calmian roared with delight, “Oh please tell me you're going higher!”

Kraglin looked around sheepishly and shook his head. 

“That's too bad,” The Calmian turned to the Nebula’s furry green buyer, “Congratulations Mr. You are the proud new owner of A Daughter of Thanos. Give this hunka-masculinity a hand!”

The crowd burst into a short round of applause before a bag was placed over Nebula’s head. She felt someone pick her up, chair and all, and move her outside.

She felt the cool night air brush her skin as she was carried. She tried her binds again, trying to remember how she dislocated her arm on Hovika in order to escape a pair of cuffs. But she paused when in the distance she heard the sound of charging feet. She tensed, preparing to either be used as a weapon or dropped.

Lucky for her she was dropped, or maybe not so lucky since now she was open to being stomped on.

She got to work wriggling out of her binds, almost not even noticing the zip of wind by her head and a high pitched whistle.

She broke free in a matter of seconds, ripping off the bag from her head mere seconds before she was met eye to point with a metal arrow. 

The whistling came to an abrupt stop as a body lurched forward and snatched the arrow out of the air. Nebula reeled back for a punch.

“Wait, wait!”

She held back, finally seeing the person in front of her. Kraglin cowered under her fist, holding the arrow in his hand for her to see.

She snarled and looked around. A few of Kraglin’s boys had guns trained on her.

“Call off your minions,” Nebula commanded. Kraglin turned to face them.

“Guys it's cool,” he said, gesturing for them to lower their weapons.

They seemed reluctant, but they put their weapons down, opting instead to look tough. “Make no mistake, I may be missing an arm but I'll snap your necks faster than you can pull those triggers,” Nebula promised.

One boy scoffed, another spat at the ground. Kraglin rose and dusted himself off. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” he said.

Nebula moved away, keeping her eyes on his hands. 

“What? What is it?” Kraglin asked.

“You want to kill me.” 

“That was just a lie. I was hoping the other bidders would back off if I said that.” Kraglin explained, “Which-um-we should probably get going if we wanna beat the angry crowd and the friends of the guy we just murdered.”

Nebula looked at the ground, seeing the corpse of her previous buyer. She looked at the Ravager ship, hearing her buyer’s friends in the background.

“Can that thing move?” she said pointing to his ship.

Kraglin smiled wide, showing off his silver capped teeth, “Oh yeah.”

Nebula gazed out at the inky blackness of space while Kraglin worked on her arm. It was new, Kraglin had once again found a whole crate of cybernetic hands. It never occurred to Nebula before on why a lot of them were her size, but she figured it was again luck of the draw.

“So what were you doing at a sex slave auction?” He asked quietly as he soldered two wires together in her arm. 

She turned to him, looking him in the eye, “I could ask you the same thing.” 

His face got red as he explained, “One of the boys didn't know what went on at the tavern at night. He got lost and I followed him in to get him back and I saw you.”

Nebula snorted, “Well isn't that romantic? You swooping in to save a murderer.”.

“Better my ship you're in than your Muppet friend, right?” Kraglin shot back. 

Nebula brow furrowed, “What's a ‘Muppet’?”

“They're Terran puppet figures in the shape of monsters. Used to entertain children and adults.”

Nebula nodded, “Regardless. I'm thankful you stepped in when you did, but I need to leave.” 

Nebula started to get up, but Kraglin held her arm. Her eyes narrowed.

“So you're just going to leave?”

“Yes. That's the idea.”

“Where would you go?” 

“Find Thanos. Rip out his heart and eat it in front of him.” she said nonchalantly.

Kraglin scoffed, “How are you gonna do that?”

“You can get information on anyone if you look in the right places.” Once again Nebula rose, Kraglin rising with her. 

“So that's it, you're just going to take my hand and hitch a ride and leave?” 

“Is that it then?” Nebula asked, crossing her arms, “You feel like I owe you? Fine, name your price, I'll pay it and leave.”

She stepped up to him, looking down at him. Looking  _ down.  _ Kraglin hadn't noticed she was taller than him just by a fraction.

He ran a hand down the smooth surface of his fin and tried not to stutter. “Ah-um-well you could-ah-could help with the-um…” 

Nebula’s glare deepened.

“The-the quarters are-um-. I mean the catwalks are rickety so like-wait no-that's a bad idea,” Kraglin groped for words, “You...you can help with the boys!” Kraglin said snapping his fingers.

“You want me to nanny them?” 

“Yes! N-no. No. I mean. You could teach them things I can’t. Just until we get to the next planet for a pit stop. Then I'll get you a ship and that'll be that.” 

“That easy, huh?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Promises, promises.” 

  
  
  


“Who's this, Captain?”

Over a dozen pairs of eyes were on Nebula, waiting expectantly for her to say something. She scanned the crowd of children. Some were young, most weren't past their juvenile stage of life.  

Kraglin gestured to the blue woman, “Nebula. Former Assassin of Thanos.” 

An arachnid like child scoffed, he rolled his eight eyes, “Can't be that badass, you were tied to a chair when we came and saved you.”

Nebula’s face was blank as she walked up to the boy and asked, “What's your name?”

“Ed-Garh.”

“Ed-Garh,” Nebula repeated, “Remember this.” 

Kraglin’s eyes widened as Nebula punched the kid square in the face. Ed-Garh stiffened and fell over, hitting the ground with a thud. 

“First rule of combat. Never underestimate your opponent. It doesn't matter what you see, it's what happening.” The boys looked at each other and then at her, nodding. 

Ed-Garh was just starting to coming out of his black out. Nebula nodded towards him. “Put him in his bed. The rest of you grab your blasters, we're gonna see how well you can shoot.”

Nebula started off towards the bowels of the ship, Kraglin struggled to keep up. “Um, what exactly are they shooting?”

“Each other.” 

Kraglin halted, “What?”

“They're not going to hurt each other,”

“But you just said,”

“I know what I said,” Nebula asserted, “You wanted me to teach these kids some things you didn't know, well I'm teaching them.”

Kraglin hurried to catch up with her, “Nebula, I'm just concerned about the welfare of my crew.”

She guffawed, “You talk as if these are your biological children,” then she thought a moment, “They aren't are they?”

“No, but I try not to put them in danger if I don't have to,”

Nebula broke her stride, turning to face him. “Kraglin, I know we are practically strangers, but I need you to put your trust in me for just a minute,”

“That'd be easy if you trusted me,” Kraglin said. He searched the dark void she called eyes and found only found his reflections in them, “Do you trust anyone?”

“Only myself and even then not all the time.” She said, “In any case, I have a crew to teach because I want to earn my temporary keep. Unless you want to give me a ship right now so I can get out of your no longer existent hair.” she said.

Kraglin sighed, “Just...don't kill anyone.”

“I'll try. But I can't guarantee.”

“Yeah, I was worried you were gonna say that.”

They joined the crew minutes later in the common area. The boys were talking loudly over each other, pushing and shoving. Kraglin got their attention by whistling, bringing out the arrow.

It flew right above their heads, scaring them just enough to pay attention. Nebula was mildly impressed. He'd gotten better with it since she'd seen him a year ago. Before he could only levitate it a few inches off the ground, but now he was making it sail through the air with ease. He wasn't as good as Yondu granted, but he was on his way.

The arrow flew back into his pocket holster. Kraglin looked please with himself. 

“Alright, Nebula here is gonna teach you sorry sons of bitches a few tricks. So listen and listen good. And if any of y’all give her any lip, she'll knock your ass into the next star system, got it?” Kraglin bellowed.

“Aye, Captain!”, shouted back his crew.

“Good, now turn your attention to the lady.”

She nodded to him, “Thank you. Crew, draw your weapons…”   
  
  


To Kraglin’s relief- and everyone else's chagrin- Nebula was giving everyone a lesson on how to quickly draw a firearm and holster it. She told them that if nothing else, this skill could help them not die as fast. 

Trying to teach a room of boys from ages of nine to nineteen was about as difficult as everything else had been for Nebula. But it was easier once the good bulk of them realised they were slow to the draw. They dropped their high and mighty act quick after that.

Nebula had them pair off and face each other. They then fired their  _ empty  _ plasma blasters at each other. For now she wanted them to practice drawing, firing, and stowing. Eventually she'd have them practice shooting at each other for real.

That was, before she would disappear on the next planet.   
  
  


They don’t reach Fortinbros for three weeks.

By then the crew was well versed in the draw. As a going away celebration, Nebula had them draw and fire at a few targets she set up.

Most missed, some came close to shoot the paneling behind her ear. She didn’t mind that have bad aim, the point was, they could pull their guns faster and sometimes that was enough to scare someone into hesitating. 

Kraglin accompanied her to the planet’s surface where they found a decent ship. Nebula would never tell anyone, but she liked the paint job on the outside. The metallic copper finish reminded her of something she couldn’t put a finger on but she felt happy thinking of it. Kraglin traded a few of the cybernetic arms for it. 

Nebula slipped into the cockpit of the ship, feeling the steering wheel in her hand. She grunted with approval as Kraglin walked over, patting the side of the ship. 

“Good condition?”

“Good enough.” Nebula replied, checking the ship’s diagnostics through the holo-dash. “You know a place close by where I can fuel-up?”

“There’s a moon pitstop somewhere near Klinsdale.” Kraglin said.

Nebula nodded, “Thank you for procuring a ship for me. I appreciate the help and I’ll try not to get damaged again.” 

“Oh wait, here,” Kraglin reached into his saddlebag and gave her another arm. Nebula took it, inspecting it. It was red, like the fin on Kraglin’s head. A red right hand, she laughed through her nose. “It was the last one,” Kraglin said, “Never know if you need a hand.”

Again, Nebula did not smile, but she made some movement with her lips that Kraglin may have thought was a smile.

“I wish you well, Kraglin. Good luck with your boys.”

“Thanks Nebula, and feel free to stop by whenever you feel like. It doesn’t have to be because you’re injured either.” he offered.

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

She closed the hatched door and started up the craft. She spied Kraglin on the ground giving her The Ravager salute. She gave him a two finger salute in response and blasted out of the atmosphere.    
  
  
  


Somewhere around the Gophomore asteroid belt, Gamora and Peter looked out at space, talking quietly.

Groot, who was now more or less full size, walked out and pointed into the distance. 

Gamora and Peter looked out, wondering exactly what he’s pointing to. And then they saw it, a copper Glider, cutting through the darkness. Gamora’s eyes trained on the craft as it bobed and weaved through the belt and then shot straight up and out of view of The Milano. 

“That’s a nice looking ship.” Peter commented blandly as Gamora nodded. “So like I was saying...His name was David Bowie and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t human…” Peter continued.

  
  



End file.
